April 17, 2018 - - Romans 16:20 The defeat of Satan

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Romans 16:20 ESV

Strange statement isn't it? To understand it you need to go all the way back to Genesis 3. When God created Adam and then made Eve from one of Adam's ribs, creation was good. There was no death, no cancer, no accidents, no disease. The world was perfect, declared by God to be "very good". God gave one rule: do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. When Adam and Eve disobeyed, sin, death, evil and all the consequences of this entered the world.

God in His great mercy promised, one day, the offspring of the woman would defeat Satan. This happened at the cross of Jesus Christ. Our sins were placed on Jesus' account and punished on His person, and His goodness was credited to all believers.

Satan's schemes, his temptations, his plans are crushed under the feet of believers who have received the grace of Jesus Christ. Believers still face hardships, trials, and suffering, the consequences of the fact we live in a world under bondage to sin. But the glorious hope of this passage is that the victory of Jesus over sin has won the day and believers will see Jesus face to face and sin and death and disease and cancer will be no more in the new heaven and the new earth. What a glory we will share.

It is the God of peace Who brings this about. Recognize this: any and every violation against the Bible (which is God's revealed will) is rebellion and turmoil and tearing of the heart and mind. Any and every sin brings the raging sense of warfare and disorder. Yet, God is restoring peace by bringing stubborn, rebellious hearts into peace won for us at the cross of Jesus Christ. He stood in our place and took our punishment for our sins and He gives us a clean slate before God. That is true peace. That is why Jesus is so beautiful and glorious in the eyes of believers.

Thank You, Father in heaven for the peace You give us in Jesus Christ. Thank You Jesus, for taking our place and bearing God's punishment against sin. Thank You, Spirit of God, for showing us the riches that belong to believers and revealing the magnificence of Jesus our Redeemer and King. Help me, God of peace, to walk in Your will and Your way, especially when the days are very hard and the temptations to sin are pressing in. As Satan's influence is being crushed, may the true peace of Jesus be the joy and song of believers. Amen.